President’s Message: Erica Reilly I want to thank everyone for helping PTC maneuver the intricacies of the COVID guidelines and keeping the club running smoothly and safely. Although I’m sure we’ve all missed the social interactions that make our PTC community so special – the glass of wine on the deck after a match, cheering on teammates, twilight tennis, the tournaments, etc., I am so grateful to at least be playing tennis during this crazy time and having a bit of a catch-up during warm up and while changing sides.
A big thank you also goes to our amazing club manager Lona and team, who never faltered and kept up an incredible positive attitude no matter what we had to change (sometimes on a weekly basis) to make sure we could stay open. Thanks also to the Board who were there every step of the way to make sure we followed guidelines and kept membership appraised. David Bressie, Brian Desler and Jackie Sage – it has been wonderful serving on the Board with all of you for the past two years and a big thanks to David for all the advice and guidance this past year.
I will be serving as Membership chair with the following great group of people this coming year. Hopefully, we can undo all the guidelines we so carefully put in place in 2020 and open up the club again Kate Belding – President Gene Trainor – Treasurer Reynold Harbin – Tennis Tournaments Jack Herndon – House and Grounds Kris Willig – Secretary Denee Berliner – Social Chair
Keeping my fingers crossed for some fun tournaments and parties next summer and raising a glass at the holiday party with all of you in 2021! Editor's Note: Jeff Tateosian In Memoriam - During the last three months, PTC sadly lost four beloved current and past members – George Parker, David Kwan, Bob With & Al Renner. Their membership at PTC totaled nearly 140 years combined. Please take a moment and check out their tributes towards the end of the Drop Shot.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank this year’s Board Members as well as Lona Means & Pablo Alvarado for writing many informative articles for this past year’s Drop Shots. We all appreciate your time and effort. I’d like to thank Lona for taking over the formatting and sending out the quarterly newsletters. Another thank you also goes to Nancy Batchelor & Kate Belding for proofreading the newsletters each month, as well as our webmaster, Dennis Mayer. Both Nancy and Dennis have volunteered their time helping to produce the Drop Shot over the past fourteen years.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery to David Bakhtiari, Pro Bowl tackle of the top seeded Green Bay Packers. David is the son of members Karl & Debbie Bakhtiari. He suffered a torn ACL in practice a couple of weeks ago and will miss the upcoming playoffs. For those who are unfamiliar with this football family, their other son Eric played at Burlingame High School and in the NFL with six different teams including the San Francisco 49ers.
Congratulations to Doug & Barbara Detata celebrating their 50th Anniversary here at PTC, as well as Guy & Eva Lau on their 40th Anniversary.
Congratulations to our incoming Club President Kate Belding and last year’s Board for choosing to support the Central County Fire Department’s annual Toy Drive here at PTC. With all the events that were canceled in 2020, the Board wanted to find a way to help local families in lieu of our holiday gathering. They chose to support the Central County Fire Department’s annual Toy Drive as a way for our members to help spread holiday cheer throughout the area. Kate wanted to thank members for the incredible response to this toy drive. The barrels were overflowing with toys. She added, “you can all rest assured that you have helped many people have a happier holiday.” (See photo below) Manager: Lona Means As this very difficult year comes to a close, I am very thankful to have PTC and its members in my life. Thank you for the generous thoughtful contributions to the holiday fund this year. Loel, Tony, Steve and I all really appreciate all you do to make PTC such a special place.
At the January Board meeting, the Board voted to credit any locker fees charged on your January statement. You should expect a credit on your next statement.
If anyone knows the whereabouts or has contact information for member Steve Rogers, please let me know.
Reminder: Court reservations are limited to 60 minutes for singles and 90 minutes for doubles. Please include all players on the reservation. Also, each individual member can only be included on one reservation per day to allow court availability for all PTC members, you are welcome to continue to play as long as there is court availability.
Happy and healthy 2021 to you and your families. Club Anniversaries for October - December (5+ years) Congratulations to the following members: Doug & Barbara Detata -50 years Guy & Eva Lau - 40 years Marshall & Peg Shambarger - 35 years Mark & Adele Campana - 30 years Karl & Debbie Bakhtiari - 15 years Gary & Lynn Goodman-15 years Tom & Audrey Treanor - 5 years Christina Ching & Michael Rocha - 5 years Steve Rosston & Kathryn Moler - 5 years Scott & Beth Smith - 5 years Treasurer News: David Bressie My time on the Board is coming to a close. I have only a few more weeks until we bring in our new Board members on the 19th. It has been a very rewarding experience and I am happy to dedicate my time to such a great club. The club is in great shape financially and hopefully we will be able to get some projects done in 2021. Gene Trainor will be taking over as Treasurer and I know he will do an outstanding job. We will be passing the 2021 budget in our next meeting and will be sharing it with the membership afterward. I look forward to seeing everyone around the club in 2021! Tennis News: Reynold Harbin 2020 in review: Although the traditional PTC calendar of events was put on hold due to COVID-19, we were able to hold four multi-week tennis events at the PTC from June through October. Each event was managed online and provided competitive play, flexible scheduling and an extended schedule so that everyone could arrange convenient play times.
We started with a Fast4 Singles Round Robin this summer with 89 players each playing about four matches over six weeks. The faster format with sets to four and no-ad scores may have converted some doubles players to singles players! We also used this event to introduce a new Universal Tennis Rating
(UTR) to all participants, providing an accurate way to determine each player's current tennis level regardless of age, gender, or geography.
Our second event was the Doubles Tune-up round robin, held in August. This event was our largest, with 131 women, men and juniors playing doubles in level-based divisions. As the PTC has some incredible juniors and college players, we were able to bring together players at all levels for some close matches.
In September we held our traditional van Dillen Doubles Championships, where Dan Mulready and Mike Ying won the Open division, Bob Wren and Brian Wachhorst won the 4.0+ division, Ron Martinucci and Marty Funk won the 3.5 division, and Gordon Nagare and Dennis Argyres won the senior division.
In October we held the 2020 PTC Women’s Doubles Championship, with 48 women playing in three divisions based on their combined NTRP. Kelly Mulready and Christina Ching won the Open division, Karen Crawford and Jennifer Salma won the 7.5 division, and Whitney Murphy and Jackie Sage won the 6.0 division.
Coming up in 2021: We are looking forward to running more events at the club in 2021 as COVID-19 restrictions allow and weather permits. In addition to our traditional events, we would like to try some new formats and are considering the following:
● Mixed Doubles event
● World Team Tennis event
3 matches over 90 minutes: singles, doubles, mixed doubles
We also hope to hold our traditional events, including:
● Ladies Doubles Tournament
● van Dillen Doubles Championship
● Men’s Singles Championship
● Betty Cookson Doubles Championship
● Calcutta Tournament
Do you have any additional event ideas? Please forward them to reynold@harbin.io. Fitness Room Update: Gene Trainor During these crazy Covid times, the board and a subcommittee have worked hard to develop a plan that meets the needs of our club for many years into the future and one that reflects the feedback we heard from the club about a year ago when a survey was conducted. We have engaged with an architecture firm who is preparing a floor plan layout. We have also engaged with a contractor who is putting together pricing for the proposed renovations. We hope to be able to present these items, along with an equipment schematic and overall summary of the plans to the membership for its consideration in the next few weeks. Many thanks to those who have provided input along the way and for those who have helped work on this project. Membership News: Jackie Sage I want to start by thanking my incredible Membership Committee this year (Mickey Podolsky, Nancy Chew, Jane Pearcy and John Kohli). They pitched in everywhere they could to reach out to sponsors and potential new members. Sometimes this required a personal call, an email or a tennis match. They were up for whatever it took to vet our potential new members. Together we added ten new members to PTC in 2020. A huge thank you for making the 2020 PTC Membership process a smooth and successful one!
We will sadly say good-bye to Rebecca Homan who has resigned from the club. She will be missed.
Please help me in welcoming our newest member: Kimberly Wickam - Sponsors - Karen Crawford and Sheila Druskin Kimberly, in her youth, was a Junior Member of PTC and one of her daughters is currently a Junior Member. In high school, Kimberly played Varsity tennis singles. Kimberly can be found around the Bay on Women's 4.0 teams and as a guest of PTC members. She passed her love of tennis onto her daughter Morgan (almost 12) who plays often at PTC as a Junior Member. Kimberly's other daughter, Kendall, is ten years old and enjoys other activities. Her sponsors state that Kimberly is fun, competitive, calm, has a successful vintner business, and is as gracious on the courts as she is off the courts. Kimberly will be a great addition to our teams as well as our social aspects of PTC and is looking forward to getting involved.
It has been a pleasure serving these last two years on the Board of PTC - thank you for the honor. I leave you in the very capable hands of Erica Reilly, who will indeed ensure a smooth transition for PTC Membership. I look forward to seeing you around the club in 2021! Social News: Kate Belding First of all, many thanks to all of our members who so generously contributed to the Central County Fire Department Toy Drive. The barrels were overflowing with new toys. Thank you for helping to spread holiday cheer.
2020 was a strange year to be the PTC Social Chair. I would like to take a moment to thank all of the people who volunteered to help out with our various events throughout the year. So many of you volunteered to help out with one, two, or more events. As we began to plan our activities at the beginning of 2020, I was sure that being Social Chair would be a challenging, but enjoyable position. Of course, all that changed in March when we went into the first shelter in place order. Needless to say, 2020 did not turn out the way any of us thought it would. As we look forward to the New Year, we know that we will have a few more months of restrictions on our activities. But we can also look forward to returning to more normal times at some point in 2021.
I wish I could be writing a recap of our fabulous holiday party, but we will have to save that for next year. The last event of my term as social chair is the annual Super Bowl party, but we anticipate that we will still be under restrictions that will not allow us to hold that event. As soon as the state and the county allow us to gather together, we will be ready to begin holding our social gatherings. Denee Berliner will be the Social Chair in 2021. I know we are all looking forward to being able to socialize at the Club and I’m sure we are all eagerly anticipating the wonderful events that Denee will plan for us. In the meantime, please stay safe and follow all the recommended precautions. See you on the courts! Tennis Pro: Pablo Alvarado Thank God For Tennis! Since I picked up a tennis racquet for the first time (35 years ago), I automatically fell in love with the game. I was amazed at all the skills you need to develop to play: the speed to move from one part of the court to another, the strength to have power and balance, the beauty of the swings, the accuracy to put the ball away of the opponents and the decision-making process you do every single time you hit a ball. After my first tennis class, I said to my mom, “This is the best sport, and I want to do it all my life”.... and here I am.
Now, more than ever, I believe that this six-year old was totally right. It has been proven by numerous studies that kids who play tennis get better grades at school, become better problem solvers and is the sport that helps more than any other to have longevity in life. Now, during this pandemic, tennis has been a lifesaver to a lot of people. I’ve heard many times that for some players, their only exercise and social connections have been happening on a tennis court.
We have it all, a great workout + mental health + social in a safe environment. Let’s do our part by making the tennis courts the healthiest place possible by following all the club guidelines.
2020 was a rollercoaster, and as coaches, we have been through the club closure, modifying classes and reorganizing groups. One thing we have learned from tennis is that champions adjust and that is what we did. We were able to host a really good summer camp season and nowadays, Stephanie and I are almost all booked for privates and clinics. The Junior Program is packed, with players on a waitlist for some of the groups. We have resumed the Junior Team Tennis at BHS thanks to the contribution and great work of Kim Cresci. We are still in the search process to incorporate one more part time tennis coach to the team to help us fulfill the class demand.
None of this could be possible without the support of the Board and every single PTC family. Thank you and Thank God for Tennis!
Tennis Balls and COVID-19 Question:
Is there any research which identified the potential for COVID-19 to be transmitted on tennis balls? Answer:
A recent study determined that the surface of sports balls, notably football, golf, cricket and tennis balls, are unlikely to harbor SARS-CoV-2 in a manner that is compatible with risk of developing COVID-19 from handling the ball during normal play. The International Tennis Federation (ITF) Sport Science and Medicine Commission, the USTA Sport Science Committee, and the USTA Medical Advisory Group support this conclusion. In Memoriam
George Parker Just before he passed, the lovable George celebrated his 101st birthday. Forty-five years ago, George and his wife Cari relocated to Burlingame, living on Lexington Avenue right behind the club. They joined PTC a few years later. George was athletic and a very good player, winning various tournaments both inside and out of the club.
Living a century exclusively in California, he was an encyclopedia of knowledge. Most of it comes from his real-life experiences. George was a graduate student at the Stanford School of Business. When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, he was studying at Stanford.
Having been inducted into the Marine Corps Reserve just weeks earlier, George suddenly became aware it was only a matter of time until he would be ordered to report for service. He said the draft for military service loomed over many of his peers in the months prior to the attack, and that he took the advice of a friend who urged him to enroll in an officer’s school.
Upon being called for duty, he went through weeks of anti-aircraft and seacoast artillery classes in Quantico, Virginia. Shortly thereafter, he was teaching new Marines how to use heavy artillery guns at the base.
By 1944, George was sent to a base in Hawaii during the height of the Pacific War. Soon thereafter, George and his Marine unit were reassigned to the island-hopping campaign. Two of the more notable islands he fought on were Saipan and Tinian, both in the Mariana Island chain. Saipan was a brutal battle, but its capture would allow the Americans to build runways big enough for its B29 Superfortress bombers to reach mainland Japan. During the following month, Tinian was attacked. The island and its runway turned out to be the launching point for the atomic bomb attacks against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Though George and his fellow Marines had been planning where they would land in Japan for a future invasion, he said the dropping of the two atomic bombs in 1945 marked an end to his time in the Pacific, leaving him to return back to Stanford to finish his business degree. Upon receiving his degree, he worked at a public accounting firm and other financial positions.
For anyone who has known George through the years, his love of music has been what has set him apart. You never had to twist his arm to get him to sing at PTC Holiday Parties, or in between matches on the upper deck area. I hope the older members who knew George will remember him and celebrate his service to our country and dedication to his wonderful family. David Kwan (by Angie Kwan) David was born in 1929 and was raised in SF Chinatown, and passed away peacefully on December 10, 2020. He was married to Lillian Jung Kwan, until her passing in 1979. In 1991, he married for a second time to Daisy Kong Kwan. David worked in the accounting field for Pan Am Airlines as well as the State of California.
David enjoyed various sports, but tennis was his real passion. He started playing on the single tennis court located in SF Chinatown. David played in various tennis tournaments in the Bay Area with trophies to show his competitive spirit and skill of the game. David eventually brought his game to the Peninsula Tennis Club, where he had been an active member for 35 years. He also was a regular in the clubhouse playing Gin Rummy with the guys after tennis. A few of them have said that they will miss David's money, but I know for a fact that he held his own against his friends. Other interests that Dave had were photography, the 49ers, his grandchildren, and Hawaii. He never turned down a home cooked meal or going to parties.
David's daughter Angela Kwan, and son-in-law, David Crawford, have been members of PTC since 2013. She says that he will be remembered for his kind smile, sense of humour and quick wit. He was adored by many and will be deeply missed. Bob With (by Scott With) Bob grew up in tiny Brisbane, California. He excelled at many sports and was an all-league
basketball player at Jefferson High School in Daly City. He started a successful construction company with his brother in 1962 and had to put his college basketball dreams aside. He married his high school sweetheart Karen in 1963. His children Scott and Kelly soon followed. He picked up tennis in the early 70’s, winning his first local doubles tourney that he entered.
He joined Millbrae Racquet Club, to which Karen still belongs, as a Founding member in 1976. There, he had won many Open tournaments in Millbrae with long time buddies Mike Tyree and Mike Kennedy. While a member at MRC, Bob played alongside Rudy Giannini, Peter Grossman, Steve Balchios, Gary Wolfe and other future PTC members. He and Mike Tyree would play against a young Gary Himes and partner for their High School practice.
Bob also played at Bayside Tennis Club (where he was proud of winning their singles tournament in 1979) and played most Thursday Nights at the Sundowners indoor courts in San Mateo. He joined the Elks Lodge solely to help them compete in USTA with many PTC guys.
In 1995, he finally joined PTC and played on many USTA teams with Craig Andrews, Bobby Ja, Gary Lee and Gerry Sydorak among others. Bob enjoyed a lot of success with those teams, and loved going to Districts and even Sectionals. He and Mike Tyree came in second in the van Dillen Doubles Championship Open Division soon after becoming PTC members. Bob thoroughly enjoyed his time here at PTC, later introducing all four grandchildren to tennis through lessons with Riaz Shivji, a family favorite. He later had a standing Sunday game with son Scott, Steve Balchios and Rob Delantoni. Sometimes his grandson Riley would join in, making it three generations of Withs on the PTC courts. He last played tennis in May before Covid restrictions limited his time on the courts. Everyone loved Bob and he will be sorely missed. Al Renner Al joined PTC in 1980 and was a regular on the courts. Through years of determined play, he reached a 4.5 ranking. His claim to fame at PTC was making it to Nationals with his senior 4.0 team. Al was well liked and a regular on the Gin Rummy circuit in the clubhouse with the card crowd. He left PTC five years ago. Al also belonged to the San Bruno Tennis Club. He is survived by his wife Maria.
George & Kari Parker
David Kwan
Bob With & Grandchildren
New Members- Charles Vestner, Mary Thibaut & Family
